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Wii U Speculation Thread 2: Can't take anymore of this!!!

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M

MDX

Member
spekkeh said:
Which could also mean they want it finished in time for the launch.
Click to expand...

Optimism... I love it.

Yeah, I considered that. But I doubt it.
I mean, lets hope so... but I doubt it.

Kid Icarus looked like it was supposed to be a launch title.
Its far past that window.

Miyamoto is not a hired gun, like Factor 5 was when they had to get a title ready for launch. He is a top class developer. You just dont rush people of his stature.
The games he makes can have long lasting appeal, and potentially become classics.
Which means, no matter when they launch, sales should be strong.
Who knows, if Pikmin 4 is also planned. Then yes, maybe Pikmin 3 will be a launch title.

But the other thing we have to consider. Nobody has seen anything of Nintendo's games, besides the tech demos. AAA Nintendo games generally dont launch within a 3-6 month window once revealed. Nintendo tends to do that for smaller titles. So I can see launch titles from Monster Games (F-zero, ExciteTruck), etc. And Retro to have a smaller game ready for launch also, like a sequel to DKCR. But Pikmin...?

*goes to check sales*

Maybe your right. It will be a launch game.


I can see Nintendo spreading their big titles over the course of 2013 in anticipation of the Next Xbox though.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
COD's sales are going to drop quite a lot on the new consoles. The new chiefs when it comes to the FPS genre are going to be the games Respawn and Bungie are working on. If Nintendo is serious about appealing to enthusiast gamers this time those titles are MUST gets. They're going to be more important than both COD and GTA.
 
C

Cerebral Assassin

Member
LegendofJoe said:
COD's sales are going to drop quite a lot on the new consoles. The new chiefs when it comes to the FPS genre are going to be the games Respawn and Bungie are working on. If Nintendo is serious about appealing to enthusiast gamers this time those titles are MUST gets. They're going to be more important than both COD and GTA.
Click to expand...


If the Respawn game is as rumoured( Sci-Fi shooter) then I don't see any chance for it to outsell COD(unless Acti screw up drastically).
 
E

effzee

Member
-Pyromaniac- said:
I don't buy that madden could be a system mover on a nintendo console. If it was implemented perfectly, it would still require great marketing to convey the fact to the core gamers that play madden, and lets face it, Nintendo will make some horribly cheesy cringe worthy and obviously fake skit of people using it.

'OMG YEAAA THIS IS SOOOO COOOOL YEAHHHH".

i DONO THOUGH.
Click to expand...


While I agree that Nintendo could mess it up, EA would need to step up and make sure it doesn't. Nintendo has a great opportunity with a 1 year lead window to show off the new Madden. Whatever graphical increase the Wii U offers over 360 and PS3 should already be enough to catch the eye of the casual fans or those who only judge by graphics. EA has to make sure the visuals stand out (plus the animations) so that Madden on PS3 and 360 looks old and dated. And then if they implement the subscreen or two Upads at once like we all imagine, it should be pretty easy to convince fans.

On top of that first hand impressions from trade shows, PR, and good word of mouth should be sufficient to let everyone know that the best and definitive version of Madden 13 will be on Wii U this fall.

Sucks for me because I buy my Madden on the PS3, plan on getting Wii U, but will have to decide between the different versions of Madden.
 
G

Gianni Merryman

Member
I reckon they'll first launch WiiU in Japan within Summer/September, and then the rest of the world between October/December 2012.

As regards the launch line-up I just have noticed how our predictions' lists seem to be somehow "Western-oriented", lacking of any title that may be particularly appealing to Japanese market.

How do you think of it, what should Nintendo release at launch in Japan, any guesses?
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
herzogzwei1989 said:
It's going to be an exciting year for Nintendo fans. God I cannot wait until the Wii U drops.
I really wanna see what SEGA will do with Wii U.
Click to expand...

You and me both! :D

I have a whole laundry list of games I want to see from them, I'll just list the likely to possible due to something in the past:

Sonic Dimensions
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing 2
Phantasy Star Online 2
Jet Grind Radio by Headstrong (were working on a Wii pitch but that never came to be)
Shining Force Gear (trademarked and leaked by an insider in JP to be Wii-bound by Neverland, but poof, it never even got an official mention)
Billy Hatcher 2 (nothing about this, I just adored the original and am ashamed at Sega for not making a Wii-sequel, the controls would work super well)
Sonic Riders 4 (I really liked Zero Gravity, and the original for its style and feel, but ZG was more polished, NOW PRO were behind the original but O-TWO took over afterwards, get them back for a Wii U entry)
And get the Colors team on NiGHTS 3! Tragic that JOD was obviously rushed...

The list goes on!
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
Wolfie5 said:
Maybe the old Nintendo. But after the 3DS, I don´t think they will take any chances. I think there will be one huge mega hit game. Question is, what game will it be?
Click to expand...

The problem with the 3DS was not a lack of Mario or something at launch.
It was the lack of any real grabbing software from anyone.
The Wii U will not have this problem.
Launch with a new action game from Retro and a good racing game from Monster, and with titles like Darksiders 2, Arkham City, Ghost Recon and the rest and you have a great lineup worth picking up the system for.
Save Mario and Mario Kart for next year when you actually need them.
Not drown out your third parties in the first couple of months with that. There's no need.
 
W

Wolfie5

Member
AceBandage said:
The problem with the 3DS was not a lack of Mario or something at launch.
It was the lack of any real grabbing software from anyone.
The Wii U will not have this problem.
Launch with a new action game from Retro and a good racing game from Monster, and with titles like Darksiders 2, Arkham City, Ghost Recon and the rest and you have a great lineup worth picking up the system for.
Save Mario and Mario Kart for next year when you actually need them.
Not drown out your third parties in the first couple of months with that. There's no need.
Click to expand...

Good point and you might be right, but I am not fully convinced :).

Allthough the launch line-up I listed looks awesome(and it is in my opinion), several of those, are games that have been released/will be released soon on PS3/360. Will Nintendo rely on those games? Not so sure about that. Of course there are games that we don´t know about yet, that will be announced at E3, I am sure.

I am just expecting at least one of the big 3 franchises(for me) Mario, Zelda and Metroid.

Zelda won´t happen, too early.

Mario, 2D version for 3DS is coming this year. I still think there is a small chance we will get a 3D Mario as well.

Metroid should happen, but it might not if Retro is working on something else.

Nintendo 64 launched with Mario
Gamecube launched with Luigi (won´t happen this time, as it´s coming to 3DS)
Wii launched with Zelda
Wii U launched with ?

Than again, launch line-ups usually sucks, except a few good/great games. Reason beeing no installed base and therefore not too many games are released on the system.
This time around does look promising, when you look at the list I made.
 
A

AntMurda

Member
MDX said:
Miyamoto is not a hired gun, like Factor 5 was when they had to get a title ready for launch. He is a top class developer. You just dont rush people of his stature. The games he makes can have long lasting appeal, and potentially become classics.
Click to expand...

Why can't Miyamoto just store his work on a usb stick, take it home and work on it late nights. Tighten up the graphics and game play you know. Nintendo can pay him the overtime and we can have Pikmin 3 for launch!

But seriously there has been a Pikmin team working on the prototype for quite a while but it depends how ambitious the team gets with the new hardware. Having it for launch may actually be a bad thing for the player.

But the other thing we have to consider. Nobody has seen anything of Nintendo's games, besides the tech demos.
Click to expand...

Nintendo interntally develops prototypes. New Super Mario Mii. Shield Pose. Battle Mii. Chase Mii. Wii Sports HD. Wii Fit HD. Wii Play HD. Those are all typical prototypes from Nintendo. All very likely to be full games and probably look something very close to that. Obviously games like Galaxy, Zelda, and Pikmin will be more kin to "next-generation" graphics. The technical demos like the bird demo and Zelda demo were developed outside of Nintendo.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
AntMurda said:
Why can't Miyamoto just store his work on a usb stick, take it home and work on it late nights. Tighten up the graphics and game play you know. Nintendo can pay him the overtime and we can have Pikmin 3 for launch!

But seriously there has been a Pikmin team working on the prototype for quite a while but it depends how ambitious the team gets with the new hardware. Having it for launch may actually be a bad thing for the player.



Nintendo interntally develops prototypes. New Super Mario Mii. Shield Pose. Battle Mii. Chase Mii. Wii Sports HD. Wii Fit HD. Wii Play HD. Those are all typical prototypes from Nintendo. All very likely to be full games and probably look something very close to that. Obviously games like Galaxy, Zelda, and Pikmin will be more kin to "next-generation" graphics. The technical demos like the bird demo and Zelda demo were developed outside of Nintendo.
Click to expand...

Do we ACTUALLY know that, or are we still guessing?
 
Ü

Übermatik

Member
AceBandage said:
Do we ACTUALLY know that, or are we still guessing?
Click to expand...

Still guessing, as far as I know. I don't think there was ever any hard evidence that they were made outside of Nintendo, though I do remember one representative reportedly saying they had 'help' from external Japanese developers.

EDIT: Oh, it was Aonuma himself? \/
 
A

AntMurda

Member
AceBandage said:
Do we ACTUALLY know that, or are we still guessing?
Click to expand...

Aonuma stated that the Zelda technical demo was developed outside of Nintendo but inconjunction with the Zelda team. I think he just means they gave them some assetts / models and the art director took charge with the outside team. I would have to assume the bird demo is the same deal.
 
TAS

TAS

Member
The sky is the limit for the WiiU. With a strong launch, steady flow of internal games and massive head start, it could very well become one of the best selling consoles of all time.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
TAS said:
The sky is the limit for the WiiU. With a strong launch, steady flow of internal games and massive head start, it could very well become one of the best selling consoles of all time.
Click to expand...

Ehhh, I dunno about that.
I don't think any system will hit the Wii's level, let alone the PS2, ever again, simply because there's so much more out there.
 
G

Grampa Simpson

Banned
Sony's recent comments make me wonder if we're really going to be headed towards a two console future. If they can deliver gaming through a gaikai/onlive type system, I'm pretty sure that they'll try to disrupt the market by making the PS4 a $80 box/controller combo that streams the games from server based game machines. They'll then also make the PS4 an upgrade from the PS3 that's just a piece of software that acts as the streaming front end.
 
B

bgassassin

Member
Grampa Simpson said:
Sony's recent comments make me wonder if we're really going to be headed towards a two console future. If they can deliver gaming through a gaikai/onlive type system, I'm pretty sure that they'll try to disrupt the market by making the PS4 a $80 box/controller combo that streams the games from server based game machines. They'll then also make the PS4 an upgrade from the PS3 that's just a piece of software that acts as the streaming front end.
Click to expand...

If there is one thing that's certain it's that there will be three consoles next gen.
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
AceBandage said:
Ehhh, I dunno about that.
I don't think any system will hit the Wii's level, let alone the PS2, ever again, simply because there's so much more out there.
Click to expand...

Eh, I agree when it comes to a dedicated videogame machine, but I think these consoles will evolve into general PC's really...not sure if it will be this upcoming gen or the one after...but the potential to sell Wii or better figures is there if you create enough perception of value. Its possible.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
Log4Girlz said:
Eh, I agree when it comes to a dedicated videogame machine, but I think these consoles will evolve into general PC's really...not sure if it will be this upcoming gen or the one after...but the potential to sell Wii or better figures is there if you create enough perception of value. Its possible.
Click to expand...

Really?
I don't think they'll ever become PCs, rather they'll become handheld/console hybrids.
This is something Nintendo and Sony have been moving towards for years now.
We're definitely going to see less dedicated consoles, but we will always have dedicated handhelds, and they will be able to function as consoles.
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
AceBandage said:
Really?
I don't think they'll ever become PCs, rather they'll become handheld/console hybrids.
This is something Nintendo and Sony have been moving towards for years now.
We're definitely going to see less dedicated consoles, but we will always have dedicated handhelds, and they will be able to function as consoles.
Click to expand...

Tablets are baby PC's. Their main function is apps. Consoles will eventually be app centric as well (videogames not counting as apps).
 
G

Grampa Simpson

Banned
bgassassin said:
If there is one thing that's certain it's that there will be three consoles next gen.
Click to expand...

That's what GAF keeps telling me, but I'm reluctant to believe. Maybe Sony won't step out of their comfort zone, but the cost of being a year late and with less GPU oomph than the 360 at a higher cost hurt them. The PS4 being a set top box that hooks up to racks at a colocation facility would be a huge improvement for them. Especially if the PS4 can also be expressed as software elsewhere. Download the PS4 for your laptop and carry a controller with you. All you need in order to play is sufficient bandwidth.

Next advantage is that they can push improvements every year. Lets say that the 2014 (launch) PS4 is a POWER7 and a high end NVIDIA GPU with 4 gigs of RAM and a basic OS behind it with the GPU outputting directly to the network.

In 2015, newly produced blades have a faster GPU.

In 2016 they improve the GPU and something else.

They get to keep pushing the technology up a little at a time, transparently.

They also don't waste hardware. They only have to have as many PSX blades as there are active players at any one time.

It also offers a wider variety of business models. They don't have to stick to the packaged game paradigm.

I think Kaz will think long and hard before he puts out a new $400 console with this type of technology on the horizon.
 
D

DCKing

Member
The suggestion is silly. Sony is an electronics company, and has used the PlayStation brand as part of their entertainment offerings for very long. Their expertise is firmly in producing electronics, as opposed to creating network services. They are not even considering this now.

Besides, just because you have a good internet connection doesn't mean the entire market has. Some parts of the US and most of Japan and western Europe are probably well off, but game streaming over network is still a very limited market. And then we're still forgetting how intensive all this stuff is and how unreliable even the best of network technology still is at this time. Let's not even throw any already established image recognizing input in the mix, which would require the game to be bandwidth intensive in two directions.

If any company would go for a cloud-based solution first, it would most definitely without question be Microsoft. But that's still ways off.

I'm convinced cloud gaming is gaming's future. But the next generation will still not be for that. The one after maybe. It's not even anything MS/Sony/Nintendo can control, it's bottlenecked by the development of broadband internet.
 
C

clemenx

Banned
Isn't SCE the only healthy part of Sony nowadays? No way Sony ditches the Playstation. Playstation brand earned its way to be synonym with "videogames" along Nintendo.
 
A

AzaK

Member
I was sitting here thinking about the Subscreen only play feature and I really hope that Nintendo either mandates that devs support subscreen only play, or strictly control who can break from it. The reason I want this is that I can imagine wanting to do a reasonable amount of gaming on the subscreen only.

Now I realise that the Subscreen is going to enhance gameplay tonnes, and I also realise that some games have it at their core design but I just hope Nintendo exerts some controls on it. I don't want a system where developers could just throw a HUD on the Subscreen, forcing you do dual screen play. In those types of scenarios I want Nintendo to force the dev to add Subscreen only play.

I wonder if Nintendo will have some sort of logo for it in the marketting materials? "Subscreen Only Play".
 
E

Emitan

Member
AzaK said:
I was sitting here thinking about the Subscreen only play feature and I really hope that Nintendo either mandates that devs support subscreen only play, or strictly control who can break from it. The reason I want this is that I can imagine wanting to do a reasonable amount of gaming on the subscreen only.

Now I realise that the Subscreen is going to enhance gameplay tonnes, and I also realise that some games have it at their core design but I just hope Nintendo exerts some controls on it. I don't want a system where developers could just throw a HUD on the Subscreen, forcing you do dual screen play. In those types of scenarios I want Nintendo to force the dev to add Subscreen only play.

I wonder if Nintendo will have some sort of logo for it in the marketting materials? "Subscreen Only Play".
Click to expand...

If they did that then developers can't actually use the subscreen. Playing on the controller is cool, but this would seriously limit design.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
AceBandage said:
Well, it was...
The PS3 kind of changed that.
Click to expand...

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Sony knows what it was doing even when they decided to make the PS3 extremely expensive at launch. For Sony as a corporation, it was far more valuable for Blu-Ray to be the next home video format more than anything. Hence the Blu-Ray trojan on the PS3, hence the high price, hence their "last place". If they don't use the PS brand as mainly another trojan for a format they want to push (and I see no reason for them to do that twice in a row), they'll be fine brand-wise.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
EatinOlives said:
I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Sony knows what it was doing even when they decided to make the PS3 extremely expensive at launch. For Sony as a corporation, it was far more valuable for Blu-Ray to be the next home video format more than anything. Hence the Blu-Ray trojan on the PS3, hence the high price, hence their "last place". If they don't use the PS brand as mainly another trojan for a format they want to push (and I see no reason for them to do that twice in a row), they'll be fine brand-wise.
Click to expand...

This last generation has shown us otherwise...
I'm not saying that they won't make another Playstation console.
I'm just saying that Sony isn't in the same position they were at the end of the PS2 era, and they've been on a run of poor decisions and bad mistakes*.


*This is not pertaining to the console or game quality. Simply from a business standpoint.
 
G

guek

Banned
EatinOlives said:
I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Sony knows what it was doing even when they decided to make the PS3 extremely expensive at launch. For Sony as a corporation, it was far more valuable for Blu-Ray to be the next home video format more than anything. Hence the Blu-Ray trojan on the PS3, hence the high price, hence their "last place". If they don't use the PS brand as mainly another trojan for a format they want to push (and I see no reason for them to do that twice in a row), they'll be fine brand-wise.
Click to expand...

Nah.

I mean, to a certain extent yes. They were aware of that adding blu-ray was going to greatly help the storage medium. But to suggest they did so knowing full well it would cost them dominance in the console sector is very silly. They never planned for a massive decline in the playstation brand, it just happened. Blu-ray was meant to help the PS3 as much as the playstation brand was meant to help Blu-ray. Sadly it didn't go both ways.

-Pyromaniac- said:
I'm utterly blown away that people are doubting a next playstation lol. Jeebus christ.
Click to expand...

For sure. I'm just doubting a relevant next playstation. Wacka wacka!
 
P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
AceBandage said:
This last generation has shown us otherwise...
I'm not saying that they won't make another Playstation console.
I'm just saying that Sony isn't in the same position they were at the end of the PS2 era, and they've been on a run of poor decisions and bad mistakes*.


*This is not pertaining to the console or game quality. Simply from a business standpoint.
Click to expand...
eh not really. From the price drop on, they've been on a string of good decisions for the most part. Very impressive rebound. It's never as complicated as people think. They got themselves in a hole because they pushed their bluray agenda, resulting in the high launch price, and they got arrogant, much like many companies get after a large success, see Nintendo and the 3DS launch.

Since the price drop they've been on the right track and have been generally smart about things.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
-Pyromaniac- said:
eh not really. From the price drop on, they've been on a string of good decisions for the most part. Very impressive rebound. It's never as complicated as people think. They got themselves in a hole because they pushed their bluray agenda, resulting in the high launch price, and they got arrogant, much like many companies get after a large success, see Nintendo and the 3DS launch.

Since the price drop they've been on the right track and have been generally smart about things.
Click to expand...

The price drop was only a moderate help to the PS3, though.
And they've done nothing to help the PSP (which only rebounded in Japan because of Capcom).
And the Vita is showing more of the same arrogance and poor decision making that you saw on the PSP.
I am definitely not confident on the PS4's future at the moment, but Sony is more than free to prove me wrong.
How they handle the Vita, especially in the West, will be very telling.
 
C

Conor 419

Banned
You'd think come next gen, Sony will sit back a bit. You would imagine that they'll produce a moderately powerful system which is competitive but does nothing special technically. It'd have similar control schemes to the other two, and on top of this it'll have a a nice innovative feature which is central to the system. This would all be backed by a good, solid and modern service. This console would act as an intermediate while they get back on their feet and it'd be open to lots of room for upgrade with subsequent redesigns.

Instead, what will we see? They're probably going to (again) build the most ridiculously powerful system that they possibly can, charge about four and a half grand for it, it'll launch with a new Killzone game which scores 58 on Metacritic and PSN will go down on launch day.

Get it together Sony.
 
G

guek

Banned
I wonder when the Wii is finally going to hit $99. I'm surprised it's still at $150, though it does come packaged with NSMBWii. I wonder if they'd be making a loss at $99...
 
P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
AceBandage said:
The price drop was only a moderate help to the PS3, though.
And they've done nothing to help the PSP (which only rebounded in Japan because of Capcom).
And the Vita is showing more of the same arrogance and poor decision making that you saw on the PSP.
I am definitely not confident on the PS4's future at the moment, but Sony is more than free to prove me wrong.
How they handle the Vita, especially in the West, will be very telling.
Click to expand...
No, the vita is showing the only option to stay in the handheld game. What else can they do? Release a device similar to the 3DS at a lower cost (than the vita currently is)? And what? Get fucking devoured by the 3DS. Release a lower cost device, maybe something not so traditional, and then what? Get devoured by smartphones/3DS again. The Vita, contrary to what people realize, is pretty much their only option. It's their only differentiator. It's the best option. The fact that it happens to be the best option isn't a testament to Sony making poor decisions, it's a testament to the state of handheld gaming.

And price drop being a moderate help? What planet have you been on lately. The price drop + the revamped marketing campaign that came with it propelled the console into its rebound. They've outsold the 360 every year since then haven't they? Save the latest year I believe.

But back to the Vita. Sony had 2 options, release a device like that and RISK failing in the handheld market, but also a chance to appeal to the west. Or, release a device along the lines of other handhelds like the 3DS and ipod touch and then what? Get devoured by those because there'd be no reason to get the Sony one. Or the final option, not release a handheld system at all....not easy.
 
G

guek

Banned
-Pyromaniac- said:
No, the vita is showing the only option to stay in the handheld game. What else can they do? Release a device similar to the 3DS at a lower cost (than the vita currently is)? And what? Get fucking devoured by the 3DS. Release a lower cost device, maybe something not so traditional, and then what? Get devoured by smartphones/3DS again. The Vita, contrary to what people realize, is pretty much their only option. It's their only differentiator. It's the best option. The fact that the best option isn't a testament to Sony making poor decisions, it's a testament to the state of handheld gaming.

And price drop being a moderate help? What planet have you been on lately. The price drop + the revamped marketing campaign that came with it propelled the console into its rebound. They've outsold the 360 every year since then haven't they? Save the latest year I believe.

But back to the Vita. Sony had 2 options, release a device like that and RISK failing in the handheld market, but also a chance to appeal to the west. Or, release a device along the lines of other handhelds like the 3DS and ipod touch and then what? Get devoured by those because there'd be no reason to get the Sony one. Or the final option, not release a handheld system at all....not easy.
Click to expand...

I kind of agree with your estimation of the Vita. If they were indeed destined to play second fiddle to the 3DS, I think they should have done much more in the realm of profitability. Some people on this board will argue until they're blue that the Vita is profitable, but even if it is, I really doubt that it's by that much. I see nothing wrong with building a niche device that will never receive massive mainstream success but will still net you a nice tidy profit on each unit from day 1.
 
A

AceBandage

Banned
-Pyromaniac- said:
No, the vita is showing the only option to stay in the handheld game. What else can they do? Release a device similar to the 3DS at a lower cost (than the vita currently is)? And what? Get fucking devoured by the 3DS. Release a lower cost device, maybe something not so traditional, and then what? Get devoured by smartphones/3DS again. The Vita, contrary to what people realize, is pretty much their only option. It's their only differentiator. It's the best option. The fact that the best option isn't a testament to Sony making poor decisions, it's a testament to the state of handheld gaming.

And price drop being a moderate help? What planet have you been on lately. The price drop + the revamped marketing campaign that came with it propelled the console into its rebound. They've outsold the 360 every year since then haven't they? Save the latest year I believe.

But back to the Vita. Sony had 2 options, release a device like that and RISK failing in the handheld market, but also a chance to appeal to the west. Or, release a device along the lines of other handhelds like the 3DS and ipod touch and then what? Get devoured by those because there'd be no reason to get the Sony one. Or the final option, not release a handheld system at all....not easy.
Click to expand...

I don't believe the PS3 has ever outsold the 360 in NA in a year... World wide, sure, simply because the 360 does nothing in Japan. It's still quite a ways behind, though, even with that.

As for the Vita, personally, if I was Sony, I'd have taken the "no new system" approach.
I just don't see the Vita even reaching the PSP's level of sales.
Instead, they should have focused on making a PS4 that would be a perfect console.
Why they feel that the only way to compete is based completely on hardware power is beyond me. That isn't how they became so successful with the PS2 and PS1.
 
B

BD1

Banned
I think we're going to see a lot of games and applications designed just for use on the Wii U Controller. (I don't know that they'll brand them though). We've already seen Reversi. I'd bet on Sudoku, Chess, Brain Age-style games and probably many of the mobile platform games. Not to mention the rumored E-Reader.

What I'm excited about is the possibility of stand alone apps that work in conjunction with games. For example, what if EA released an app called "Madden Playbook". Maybe you want to design plays or customize your playbook in Madden 14. Without having to launch Madden, you just pick up the controller, open the app and start playing around with formations and plays. Want to design a play? Whip out the stylus and draw something up. When you're done, you just save it and the next time you load Madden it will automatically sync your Playbook.

Activision could release the CoD: Elite app for you to browse on the controller. How about an app that lets you customize or tinker on your sports car for a racing game? Track editor in the next F Zero? Stage builder for Smash Bros 4?

I think there is so much potential for developers to tap into "app surfing" tablet culture, where player can always be touching their games, even when they aren't playing them.
 
P

-Pyromaniac-

Member
guek said:
I kind of agree with your estimation of the Vita. If they were indeed destined to play second fiddle to the 3DS, I think they should have done much more in the realm of profitability. Some people on this board will argue until they're blue that the Vita is profitable, but even if it is, I really doubt that it's by that much. I see nothing wrong with building a niche device that will never receive massive mainstream success but will still net you a nice tidy profit on each unit from day 1.
Click to expand...
exactly, you can't beat nintendo at its own game, and you can't beat smartphones and whatnot at theirs. So do something neither can possibly offer and collect what profits you can for the next couple of years. Of course now it's up to them to get the games, but I guess that's what we have to wait and see. But going after a niche is the smart thing to do when entering a big boys market and you don't have the firepower to hang with them.
 
E

EatinOlives

Member
guek said:
Nah.

I mean, to a certain extent yes. They were aware of that adding blu-ray was going to greatly help the storage medium. But to suggest they did so knowing full well it would cost them dominance in the console sector is very silly. They never planned for a massive decline in the playstation brand, it just happened. Blu-ray was meant to help the PS3 as much as the playstation brand was meant to help Blu-ray. Sadly it didn't go both ways.
Click to expand...

I disagree.

Here's my theory: Business-wise, what's better for Sony in the long term? Doing well for another game console generation for 6 years, or establishing dominance of the entire home video industry for far longer? They decide the latter, they say "fine, we'll put a cutting edge technology on the PS3". You stick a high-end (for its time) Blu-ray player that boosts its price to very high prices, now they have to sell it using the "posh, high-end premium hardware" angle. So that's how they play it. They stick in an exchangeable hard drive, 6 USB ports, 2 HDMI ports, SD slot cards, touch buttons, an entire PS2 inside it, etc. to really make this obvious and justify the cost. In other words, they build the rest of the PS3 around the Blu-ray play because business-wise that's where the money is. Of course, they try to sell it as a gaming-related medium, playing the whole "good storage" angle, etc. They additionally take a hit (IIRC they sold the PS3 at a $400 loss initially) and bring Blu-Ray drives into as many homes as possible.

If you believe this, a lot of their other behaviors become all the more obvious. After Blu-ray "wins" the format wars, then they focus on the PS3 as a gaming console. They strip down the console little by little, trim back on everything from the HDMI ports, USB ports, touch controls, PS2 hardware, etc., and start aggressively dropping the price as much as they can. After all, if they were trying to sell the PS3 as a high-end device in the long haul they wouldn't have made the PS3 visibly cheaper later.

Now look where they are. PS3 is in "last place", but it's hardly Dreamcast'd. The console played a big role in making Blu-Ray the established next-gen video format, and now they can use the brand to focus on other things. Using it to drive 3D, for instance, is another one of their ventures although it's not as "invasive" to the console as Blu-Ray was.

So there's my theory. I know a lot of people like to think Sony went stupid, but honestly on a business sense Sony isn't stupid. They didn't get to this point in the industry if they made stupid decisions and they most definitely didn't put Blu-Ray in the PS3 for gaming purposes. I find my theory far more plausible than "Sony derped, now they're in last place".
 
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